KABA-BOON - Origin Album Review

KANA-BOON is an indie rock band, who have released some pretty strong music in their relatively short career. Their single "Naimononedari" is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of indie J-rock in recent history. "Origin" is their third full-length album, and it's hard to say just how well it stands up to their previous work.

My first thought on the album was that there are a worrying amount of songs that just don't stand out at all. The first two tracks sound fine, but I couldn't tell you a single thing about them if they weren't playing at the time. The third song is a bit better, with a fantastic melody in the chorus.

As far as the first half goes, "anger in the mind" has some pretty heavy riffs, and "Indifference" is just overall a great song, if a bit standard for KANA-BOON. It's the second half of the album where things start to pick up a bit. While nothing is overly as catchy as the band's earlier singles, there's still a lot of great songwriting and technical skill on display. Even as none of the songs stand out on their own, there's a lot of emotional intricacies at work. I LOVE "Stand By Me", which has nostalgic melodies fitting snugly together with some incredible riffs.

The closing track, "Origin", is a pretty solid end to the album. The second half of the song in  particular speeds things up for an explosive finish, something I wasn't expecting based on the rest of the album's tone. It's not a slow album exactly, but it's not an exciting one either. "Origin" isn't the best song, but its placement on the track list is what gives it that extra edge. It works nicely as a closer if nothing else.

KANA-BOON has definitely done better work in the past. That said, "Origin" isn't a terrible album. It has its ups and downs, but in the end it falls somewhere around the "decent" mark. It's not bad, it's not great. Bigger KANA-BOON fans than myself might love it (or hate it?) but I'm feeling pretty unmoved by it.

Favorites: Nandemo Nedari, Indifference, Stamd By Me, Origin

-Justin

KANA-BOON Is:
Taniguchi tuna (Vocals, Guitar)
Koga Hayabusato (Guitar)
Iida Yuba (Bass)
Takahiro Koizumi (Drums)

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